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Linking Youth Ventures and Social Media

The development
agenda is the most important debates of our time and all the while, the decapitating effects of
poverty are far reaching and entrenched in Uganda just like any other
developing nation. This is a fact that most people who are in one way or
another, directly and indirectly affected by it have resorted to conform to and
understand how to live with.

Uganda
has one of the youngest populations in the world (over 50% are aged under 15
years, and up to 78% are aged under 30 years), Uganda has the potential, can
and should play a major role in championing the youth agenda at the global
level particularly in influencing and occasion the reality of Youth
industrialization to focus on self-employment.

Despite
their numbers, young people currently face challenges and huddles setting up,
articulating their agenda for the core goal of influencing global and local
decision-making processes that affect their well-being. Young people need to
lobby government at the highest decision making level to recognize their
participation in the development agenda a near perfect opportunity and entry
point targeting inclusive and sustainable growth that devotes more attention to
higher standards and to outcomes that improve the quality of young people’s
lives.

In
Namutumba District, Ivukula Sub County, Ivukula Parish, 35 male and female
Youth have joined efforts to mitigate the impact of poverty from as low as
their household. This group is known as Journey of Miles Youth Development
Association.

In
April 2013, with the technical support of Actionaid – Busiki LRP, they were
supported to come together and formed this group coupled with basic skills in
group management. They started off with three projects; a piggery, poultry,
coffee bed nursery and ground nuts farming. All members contributed and took
turns in managing the projects.

Youth at their Coffee Nursery

Meddi catering to the Poultry

Tezeta during Ground Nuts harvesting

The
members are male and female Youth of ages ranging from 17 – 33 years with
education levels ranging from Primary 3 drop outs to Senior 6 graduates. Their
education backgrounds set them apart – but that’s all. Their rise has
particularly been informed by their dedication and commitment to achieve
something while still in their Youthful years against all odds.

The group has made numerous attempts to reach the Namutumba
Local Government for support to market their produce and products but the
response they have been getting from the officials there have over time intimated
that they have to part with the small monies that they have acquired from their
proceeds for support.

As such, I supported the group members to attain basic social media knowledge so as to be in a position to market their produce themselves
online from the comfort of their mobile phones. I trained the Youth on how to
operate specific social media platforms and work is underway for them to have a
facebook page, a twitter handle and a google+ platform. They will continually
be supported to ensure that they exploit all the opportunities available in the
social media platform.

This shows that there is more to supporting the Youth than
giving them capital. They should be supported to understand and be in a
position to manage and multiply the resources, market their produce and diversify into other spheres – more so building their individual and group
capacities for sustainability.

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